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So, yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my first sale on Etsy, my Etsy-versary, if you will. My first sale was one of my “Born at Home” shirts and it continues to be one of my most popular designs today, one year later.

Today, as I printed another one of these sweet little shirts to send out to a newly born babe in Madison, Wisconsin, it occurred to me that I never really shared why I decided to open up shop.

Well, you see, that sweet little design was created with my babe in mind. We had a home birth planned.

I had my 40-week midwife appointment on Thursday, March 2nd. I biked there and back (about 3 miles each way). All looked good and well. We were just waiting. Waiting for our little one.

Around 2am the next morning, my water broke. Knowing how long my labor was with Ewan, I knew rest was best and went back to bed.

I woke up to contractions, mild ones. A reminder that we would have a baby soon. It was March 3rd. My eldest son’s birthday.

We celebrated. We cleaned. We were excited. Giddy even. We danced. The contractions came and went, bearable.

The day passed and the midwives came for supper. We all sat around the table and ate homemade macaroni and cheese and choo-choo cake.

The contractions kept coming, though never really getting stronger or more predictable.

I knew. We all did. That with my water already broken, the clock was ticking. At about 3am the following day, March 4th, my due date, we transferred to the hospital.

It took about another 12 hours for Xander to be born. With pitocin and an epidural. It was nothing like we had planned, which makes it very much like our first birth.

It was painful mourning the loss of the birth we were hoping for, more painful when we returned home and the birth tub was still in our dining room, unused. The birth kit was the same. But most painful of all was the sweet little “Born at Home” shirt that my little guy would never wear.

I sent that shirt home with my midwife to be given to the next babe that would be born at home. And I was happy to know that it was.

But then I got thinking, even though I didn’t have the home birth I had hoped for, many others would. Many other mamas would welcome their babes into the world in the comfort of their own home. Many other families would want to celebrate that. And I wanted to help them.

So I listed my little shirt and someone bought it. And I was so glad they did because that meant another family had another babe at home and they were proud. And they should be.

And then more people bought more shirts and I got to thinking that it’d be fun to make other designs. It was, and it is.

It’s been quite a year. A fun year. An unexpected year. And I’m so excited to be starting year two, wondering where it will take me and this little business of mine.

First of all, thank you. Thank you for your words. Your advice. Your encouragement. But, most of all, thank you for being here. For reading. For responding. It means a lot.

Now, as promised, let’s go back to the lollipops and rainbows. Which seems appropriate because today was, truly, a lollipops and rainbows sort of day.

halloween felt board fun. i am in LOVE with his Ewan’s jack-o-lanterns.
new books. his first one with chapters.knitting strewn about the house. this whole family needs new slippers.
xander, my gregarious confident little guy.
a new “dry-erase” board.birks in october.Yellow!!
our new wedding rings, an eighth anniversary present to ourselves. (made by stout woodworks)
the way some trees just drop leaves faster than others. like they are in a rush for winter.